Inter president Massimo Moratti says he admires the way Mario Balotelli has matured since leaving the club in the summer of 2010.

Sporting director Pier Ausilio claimed in January that the Nerazzurri had first refusal if Manchester City were to sell Balotelli, but the 2010 Champions League winners did not take up their option as the 22-year-old joined arch-rivals AC Milan instead.

I have no regrets over Balotelli. We knew that we wouldn t re-sign him, unfortunately because of what happened in the past, Moratti told the club s official website.

If anything, I admire Balotelli for the fact that he s becoming more and more professional, and that s a very good thing.

That was the only problem he perhaps had and which he doesn t seem to have anymore.

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Mohamed Salah will start for Egypt in their crunch World Cup Group A clash against hosts Russia, ending almost a month on the sidelines.

Salah collected a plethora of end-of-season awards after a stellar debut campaign with Liverpool that yielded an incredible 44 goals in all competitions.

However, 2017-18 ended in tears for the 26-year-old after he came off worst in a grappling challenge with Sergio Ramos during the Champions League final, leaving the action half an hour into a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid that plunged his World Cup participation into doubt.

The Egyptian Football Association pushed the notion of Salah making a swift and successful recovery from his shoulder injury, having declared him fit for both their matches in Russia.

Experienced head c…

The experienced Slovenian shot stopper Samir Handanovic is ready to quit Inter in January in favour of a move to a Champions League side and Inter are believed to be actively seeking the proper replacement.

According to reports from the , the Brazilian goalkeeper Ederson Moraes has been pinpointed as the top January target for the Nerazzurri.

The 23-year-old Ederson moved to Benfica from Rio Ave in 2015 and is contracted to the Portuguese side until 2020.

The Serie A side are hopeful that the talented shot stopper could be persuaded to join Inter, but the Italians are unlikely to get their man on the cheap.

Ederson Moraes is regarded as huge prospect and the future of Benfica, who are ready to give him more playing time in the first team this season.

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Jose Mourinho revealed Christian Eriksen has not played his last match for Tottenham after saying the Inter target will face Norwich City on Wednesday.

Midfielder Eriksen has looked set for a switch to Serie A this month, with Spurs knowing this will be their last chance to cash in on the Dane before his contract expires in July. 

Although Inter are reportedly set to make a fresh offer to last season s Champions League runners-up, it seems Eriksen is going nowhere for now.

Tottenham s steadfast position has the hallmarks of a power move and in Mourinho they have an operator who knows how to work the transfer market.

He will not want to lose Eriksen, but if Tottenham bring in the right money for the player who turns 28 next month, it could strengthen t…

Prediction: Sevilla win

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The unpredictable nature of the UEFA Champions League has always been one of its most appealing features, and now that COVID-19 is in the mix, even the venues for these knockout fixtures are starting to become a bit more unclear. Still, there are sixteen teams left battling it out for a place in the quarter-finals of this illustrious competition, and two of the remaining dark horses, Sevilla and Borussia Dortmund, will clash later on this evening.

Sevilla

The masters of the UEFA Europa League have made the leap up to the UEFA Champions League, and when you take one look at their current run of form, it s easy to see why many consider them to be legitimate contenders this season. They ll have to overcome …

Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto`o still doesn`t understand why Pep Guardiola, his former coach at Barcelona, had a problem with him.

With his new club Inter meeting Barcelona this week, the Cameroonian international get`s a perfect opportunity to get back on Guardiola.

The start of their new campaigns for the 2009/10 UEFA Champions League at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium on Wednesday night promises to be an exciting battle between two European giants.

The stakes are even higher because Inter`s super star Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Italy to join the Spanish champions. Barca`s top scorer Eto`o went the other way.

“Since the moment I joined Barcelona and since my very first game for them, I did all I could to do the job asked of me,”…

Nigeria s Emmanuel Emenike expects his team s second leg against Ethiopia will be tougher than the first despite having home-ground advantage.

The 26-year-old striker will be one of the key players for Nigeria when they host Ethiopia on Saturday in Calabar for a spot at next year s World Cup in Brazil.

Emenike is in good form, having scored both goals as Nigeria won the first leg in Ethiopia 2-1 last month, while he was also the co-top scorer at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, which Nigeria won in February.

Although Nigeria leads Ethiopia heading into Saturday s match, Emenike is not getting too carried away with his nation s chances.

The game in Calabar will be tougher for us than the one in Addis Ababa (in Ethiopia). We have to be careful and get ready for anot…

Paris Saint-Germain head coach Thomas Tuchel named former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger as his idol and role model but insisted he did not want to succeed the Frenchman at Emirates Stadium.

Tuchel was strongly linked with a move to Arsenal before Wenger announced in April that he would leave at the end of last season, but the former Borussia Dortmund boss had already decided to join PSG by the time the vacancy in North London arose.

The German coach denied any knowledge of plans to take him to Arsenal but expressed his admiration for the legacy Wenger left at the club.

I made my decision before Wenger made his decision, Tuchel told reporters ahead of PSG s clash with Arsenal in the International Champions Cup.

My biggest respect for him. He built the…

Cardiff City were unable to make the most of their numerical advantage as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by 10-man Fulham, with Harry Arter sent off against his former club.

The contest between sides relegated from the Premier League last season saw two contrasting styles on display, but in the end neither Fulham s possession-based approach nor Cardiff s more direct outlook came up trumps.

Fulham started the brighter of the two teams, but Cardiff improved after the half-hour mark and found the breakthrough in the 42nd minute on the counter – Josh Murphy firing across Marcus Bettinelli.

But their lead did not even last until the break, Tom Cairney releasing Ivan Cavaleiro and his low delivery was tapped in by Aleksandar Mitrovic.

Fulham s hopes too…

Portuguese coach Henrique Calisto has extended his contract with the Vietnam national team by three years, the Vietnamese Football Federation (FVF) announced on Thursday.

FVF vice-president Nguyen Lan Trung said the new contract would enable Calisto to continue to build Vietnamese football .

Calisto initially took over the job in 2002 and returned to the post in 2008 after a spell in charge of Vietnamese V-League side Dong Tam.

Details of his contract were not publicised but Calisto himself said his salary was reasonable .

Vietnamese media reported that Calisto would receive a monthly salary of at least 20,000 dollars (14,600 euros) plus expenses including the cost of two return flights to Portugal per year.

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